Category Archives: wear to work

My office has been sub-Artic for the past week, and I am slowly freezing to death each day. I actually printed off a bunch of papers to review and went to sit in another office, because I could not feel my fingers. Ridiculous! Unfortunately our building is very large and very old, so it does not keep a consistent temperature (meaning no other rooms are freezing, just mine).

I keep a cardigan at the office, but it’s a cheapie Target special and also has 3/4 length sleeves, so its usefulness is pretty limited. Today I brought in a pashmina-style scarf to wrap around my arms, which really helped a lot. But it, too, is a cheapie Target special (anyone sensing a pattern here?) and is very thin.

So I think I will at some point invest in a nice, actual cashmere pashmina with a little weight to it. If I recall correctly, Nordstrom generally has an own-brand line of pashminas in a wide array of colors for about $99. However, they’re not currently online, probably because it is August and who needs pashminas now? Me. I do.

So I found these instead, which are a definite possibility. They come in a ton of colors, but I will probably stick with grey so it matches most of my work clothes:

I got a Land’s End catalogue in the mail yesterday, billing “Zero Risk Chinos.” Basically, they’re offering free shipping and free returns for a limited time. The chinos come in a wide range of colors and cuts, and the styling is very cute and almost reminiscent of J. Crew. But with pants at $60 a pair, this is obviously not J. Crew.

I’m particularly taken with the slim ankle chinos. I’ve been wearing The Limited’s Drew Twill Ankle Pants weekly since early spring, and they’ve been a great warm weather staple. I love that the length works for both heels and flats–as a petite girl I’m perpetually struggling with tailoring issues, because getting the right hem length can be tricky. I may need to take advantage of this Land’s End deal to broaden my ankle pant horizons and explore color ranges beyond black and khaki.

Flash sale sites can be pretty hit-and-miss, but I try to make the daily rounds just to check in and see what’s available. I regularly monitor Gilt, RueLaLa, My Habit, and Ideeli. I’m not really in the market for any new clothes at the moment, but if I were, I would take advantage of this great deal at Ideeli.

There are several cute dresses from EMPLOI. I am not familiar with this brand, and some Googling around didn’t yield much information. But the photos look great, and $69.99 is a very reasonable price for a nice work dress. Here are two of my favorites, available now at Ideeli:

I love fun nail polish, and I often pick up a new bottle of Essie on a whim when I’m at Target. However, I try to limit myself to more conservative colors on days I have court appearances. My favorite is a barely-there pink shade, that makes my nails look prettier but doesn’t scream “I’m wearing nail polish!”

This largely stems from a traumatic experience in law school, when a fellow law student wore black nail polish to court. She was dressed entirely appropriately, in a suit, but the judge saw the black nails and that was the end of it. He asked her, in open court, “are you a punk rocker?” Super awkward, super embarrassing.

None of the judges I appear in front of would notice nail polish, and I frequently see attorneys dressed really inappropriately for court and nothing is said. So this is probably a rule that exists only in my head, but I am a young woman in a field dominated locally by much older men. So I basically do anything I can to avoid drawing undue attention to my appearance, and that includes limiting myself mostly to boring shades of nail polish.

Here are some of my favorites for pretty, natural nails. Bonus: these shades are so close to the color of my nails that if I get some chips, it’s barely noticeable.

Essie Sugar Daddy. This is a pretty popular “neutral” polish, and I like the hint of shimmer.

OPI Bubble Bath. Rumor has it, this is Giada de Laurentis’ go-to shade. Her cooking show is full of close-ups of her hands, and her nails always look immaculate. I actually saw this color on a friend and asked her if she was wearing nail polish, because I could not tell if she was or if her nails were actually just that pretty. That’s the dream, right??

Essie Pink Glove Service. This looks pretty bright in the bottle, but it’s a jelly polish with a very sheer application. It adds a lot of shine, and just the right tint of color. I sometimes use this as a base coat before adding one of the more opaque polishes linked above.

I was very excited for the Anniversary Sale this year (although not excited enough to stay up until 3 a.m. Central Time when the sale went live). I first checked out the bags and the shoes, and nothing really jumped out at me. But the clothes? Different story. Below are some of my favorites.

Halogen Pintuck Pleat Chiffon Blouse. Full price $72, sale price $47.90. It’s sheer, so you would need a camisole underneath. I love the polka dots, the pin tucks, and that it comes in petite sizes.

Halogen Tipped Sweater Blazer. Full price $79, sale price $51.90. I love sweater blazers for the office, they’re a great (and comfy!) way to dress up trousers or a pencil skirt.

Rather than creating endless Pinterest boards, I’ve decided to start a blog to keep all my fashion finds in one central location. And here it is!

My inaugural post might as well include these unbelievable mark-downs at Land’s End Canvas. I can’t keep these kind of discounts to myself…

Women’s Pleated Tweed Mini. Originally $79.50, now $23.97. I think this would be great for winter, paired with black tights and black pumps.

Women’s Heritage Oxford Shirt. Originally $50, now $16.99. Slightly boring, but a great basic at a great price.

It’s unusual to find this kind of clothing discounted so steeply in July. Most retailers are trying to unload their summer stock, to make room for fall merchandise. So this giant sale is a mystery to me, but I’m excited nonetheless.

I’ll be back tomorrow with picks from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, running now through August 6. Happy shopping!